Crystal Fleming クリスタル
LightNews LightNews
banner
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Crystal Fleming クリスタル
@alwaystheself.bsky.social
11K followers 850 following 3.9K posts
Professor of Africana Studies and Sociology. Posts represent the views of my cats. One of my books has a 2 second cameo in an Oscar winning film.日本語を勉強します. I’m my ancestors’ wildest dreams and/or worst nightmare. I have a lot of ancestors.
Posts Replies Media Videos
alwaystheself.bsky.social
In West Philadelphia born and raised
On the playground was where I spent most of my days
Chillin' out, maxin', relaxin', all cool
And all shootin' some b-ball outside of the school
When a couple of guys who were up to no good
Started making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight..
The pope holding a microphone
November 23, 2025 at 3:15 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
This is the new ugly ass logo for the rebranded "PhArt" museum. I am bereft!
A very ugly black and white logo. A griffin (?!) with the words "Philadelphia Art Museum" written in a circle. Truly horrific.
November 12, 2025 at 11:35 PM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
This was pretty trippy! #northernlights #aurora
Pink and purple sky with stars surrounded by golden foliage
November 12, 2025 at 5:33 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Bucket list wish fulfilled! My first time seeing an #aurora — at Smith College in Northampton, MA 45 minutes ago! #massachusetts #westernmass #northernlights
Pink and green lights above trees, illuminated buildings Neilson library oddly illuminated above by green northern lights and.. within by the same color green?? Bright pink lights above college buildings. Cloud cover notwithstanding Vivid red lights above the library. Purple clouds..
November 12, 2025 at 5:27 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
This is a demoralizing moment so I’m channeling the joy and awe I felt earlier today gazing at this beautiful, glowing fiery orange/red/yellow tree during my walk.. 🍂🍁🍃
A bright red, yellow and orange tree - beautiful!!
November 10, 2025 at 3:58 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
“Fuck the Democrats for selling us out” in Zohran Mamdani font
November 10, 2025 at 3:34 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Took a walk. It was lovely.
a fall foliage dream: blue skies, pink/purple clouds reflected in a pond; golden leaves abound
October 27, 2025 at 1:32 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Another gorgeous fall day around these parts..
Autumn leaves - yellow and red, green and brown.. water in the background. Blue sky above
October 27, 2025 at 1:23 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Had the absolute pleasure of screening the excellent documentary Horror Noire in my Black Magic seminar today, featuring brilliant, thought-provoking interviews with @tananarivedue.bsky.social and @racheltrue.bsky.social among others. Students were riveted and we learned so much!
poster for Horror Noire.. the interior of a movie theater, red seats, ghoulish figures..
October 21, 2025 at 10:31 PM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
There are worse office views.. 🍂🍁🍃
Photo of a window looking over a quad at a college campus, beautiful fall foliage
October 21, 2025 at 9:48 PM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Full text: scholarworks.umass.edu/server/api/c...
Reginald Kearney THE PRO-JAPANESE UTTERANCES OF W. E. B. Du BOIS WH EN THE United States entered the first world war as a direct participant, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, in a controversial editorial that he would later regret, called upon black Americans to "close ranks" with their white fellow citizens in order to defeat the common German menace. Some years later when his country went to war against Japan, however, Du Bois lacked enthusiasm and issued no such clarion call due to his belief that Japan was a colored nation, that color was a root cause of the war, and that there was "a certain bond between the colored peoples because of world-wide prejudice."! In a letter to Andrew J. Allison, the alumni secretary at Fisk University dated February 3,1941, Du Bois said that he was glad his alma mater had not yet yielded to the war hysteria. His satisfaction, he explained, was due to the conviction that "in this war we are trying to attack Japan because of race prejudice," but he did feel that the United States might be justifiable in the event of a defensive war.? As one of the most learned men of his generation and the premier spokesman and propagandist for the higher aspirations ofblack Americans, Du Bois analyzed international events and tried to explain how the rise of Japan affected their ongoing struggle for justice and equality. For more than three decades, his interpretations consistently sought out the positiveness in the policies of the government of Iapan. More simply stated, W. E. B. Du Bois' remarks regarding Japan's position in East Asiawere invariably favorable toward Japan. Black Awareness of East Asia Du Bois claimed that blacks had become more conscious ofEast Asia from the time of the Russo-Japanese War; he certainly was. In his 1905 essay,
October 21, 2025 at 3:48 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Ohtani!
Photo of the tv screen.. Shohei Ohtani SHO TIME FIRST STARTING PITCHER TO HIT LEADOFF HR REGULAR OR POSTSEASON FIRST STARTING PITCHER TO HIT MULTIPLE HR IN POSTSEASON GAME FIRST STARTING PITCHER WITH 3+ HR & 10+ K
October 18, 2025 at 3:54 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Really enjoying these gorgeous fall colors at Smith College 🍂 🍁 🍃
Fall foliage surrounding water under blue/orange skies Red and green leaves
October 16, 2025 at 5:23 PM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
🫣🤭😬
Kendrick Lamar meme from the Super Bowl..
October 9, 2025 at 10:45 PM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
The caucasity! And it gets wilder. Moynihan's (white, single, destitute) mother was quite literally ON WELFARE! This is the same guy who practically created the myth of the Black matriarch and the controlling image of the Black welfare queen! www.theguardian.com/news/2003/ma...
Moynihan was the first child of Margaret and John Moynihan. His father was a newspaper reporter in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but, six months after his son's birth, he moved to New York as an advertising copywriter. The family had two more children and lived comfortably until Moynihan Sr turned into an alcoholic and a compulsive gambler. Eventually, he fled his creditors, leaving his family destitute. Margaret Moynihan was forced into the Manhattan slums, and resumed her work as a low-paid nurse; even with welfare benefits, her children were obliged to shine shoes and sell newspapers to meet the bills. But young Patrick, as he was universally known, prospered at the local Roman Catholic parochial schools, emerged top of his class in 1943, and was encouraged to go on to university.
September 26, 2025 at 4:31 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
“I was told there would be treats..”

#cats #blueskycats #catsofbluesky
A cute gray tabby patterned cat with big white paws and green/yellow eyes looking intently into the camera
September 26, 2025 at 1:57 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Nah. This passage came before the Kissinger kerfuffle.
Hayek talked about disliking “Near Eastern” students because they were “fundamentally dishonest.” He said that he had a “profound dislike for the typical Indian students at the London School of Economics, which I admit are all one type—Bengali moneylender sons.” I didn’t know about that. Wow. Hayek was a very complicated figure. He wrote a lot. Some of it’s not so good. The Hayek that I admire is the Hayek who was an extremely persistent and repetitive and powerful critic of socialist planning on the ground that it couldn’t be made to work because the socialist planners won’t know enough, even if they’re competent and well motivated. And also the Hayek who would occasionally say that liberty has an economic foundation, but also a moral foundation. And, in a time like ours, Hayek as Mr. Liberty—that’s someone who we want to be in the same club with. Hayek supported the 1973 coup in Chile. There are lots of things that don’t make him seem like such a democrat or liberal, correct? The criticisms are either accurate or, in some sense, fair. So when I say Hayek is a great figure or a great part of the liberal tradition, I don’t mean to endorse everything he said. You mentioned Murray Rothbard as another figure on your team. He was also controversial: he talked positively about David Duke’s 1992 Presidential campaign, and he said that he wanted to replace America’s government with some sort of anarcho-capitalism. Given where our politics are now, it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that so many of these figures were important for the conservative movement. How do you think about that? Rothbard is not my favorite by any means. Does he belong in the liberal position? Yes. Was he sometimes a crackpot? Yes. But you’re asking a more fundamental question than that, which is about whether there’s continuity between some features
September 23, 2025 at 7:24 PM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
My God!
But your wife is one of the great human-rights experts in the world. I asked you about him being anti-liberal, and your response was that he was very nice to you about your book. About Star Wars. It is certainly a touching story. But that’s not totally an answer to the question. Yeah. Well, I don’t know. What he would think of this book I’d love to know. But no second thoughts about being friends with him or anything? I feel generally very grateful for friendship, and he was, when I knew him, a person of immense kindness. Those who think of him as someone who was something horrible or worse, I don’t know what to say about that. But you could have an opinion on it. You have an opinion on all kinds of things, right? Well, on him and his role in government, that’s not something I’ve particularly studied, so I don’t know. I know some people who think he was a horrible historic figure. They would say, “Would you be friends with Genghis Khan? Would you be friends with Stalin?” And I wouldn’t be friends with Stalin, so I concede that. Well, the next time someone brings up a terrible anecdote about Cambodia or Vietnam, I will definitely drop the Star Wars story to show that people have two sides. Yeah. And I get those who think you shouldn’t be friends with someone who did terrible things. I hear that. I can just say that he was, as a very large number of people would say, though many fewer would say it publicly, an extraordinarily generous friend. Professor, thank you so much for doing this. Great, thanks. If we go light on the Kissinger part, I wouldn’t complain, because it could dwarf everything else.
September 23, 2025 at 6:55 PM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Phew.. "We have a whole history.."

www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
Screenshot of Chotiner's interview with Cass Sunstein: "And with Reagan, too. When he was running for governor, he said, “If an individual wants to discriminate against Negroes or others in selling or renting his house, he has a right to do so.” But it seems like you characterize right-wing or anti-democratic thought in America as a response to the modern left. We have a whole history. We had a civil war, segregation. There are all these moments in our history that had anti-liberal movements. I agree completely. So if the question is whether we attribute the rise of the right to political correctness and wokeness, that would be preposterous. Are they fuel? That’s completely right. If we want to say that America has been an imperfectly liberal country from early on, that’s emphatically true. And by imperfectly liberal the claim is that it shows imperfect fidelity to liberal principles that are shared by many on both the right and the left. And so you could make an argument, today, that the South has risen, and I don’t mean that to say anything particular about Mississippi or Georgia, but to say that some of the thinking associated with the pro-slavery movements hasn’t died."
September 23, 2025 at 6:45 PM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Last full day of summer here in California.. 🍂 🍇 🌲
A mountain, palm tree, various green trees and one tree turning orange. A stream.. Lavender fields A tree turning orange illuminated by the sun Grapes on a vine
September 21, 2025 at 10:27 PM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Timeline cleanse.. Leo & Luna send impossibly fluffy greetings 😻😻 #cats #catsofbluesky
A brown cat and a gray cat laying on their backs looking at the camera, very cute
September 17, 2025 at 2:58 PM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Starting the day with beauty 🍂
Photo of a river and trees College campus in the background, pond and small dam in the foreground. Blue skies
September 15, 2025 at 1:56 PM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Some black feminist night owl inspo: Gerda Lerner's account (via Hull/Smith) of Milla Granson, an enslaved woman "who had taught a midnight school [that] was opened at 11 or 12 o'clock at night, and closed at 2 o'clock a.m...Her number of scholars was 12 at a time..until she had graduated hundreds."
Politics of Black Women's Studies p. xix (from ..But Some of Us Are Brave..) [In Natchez, Louisiana, there were] two schools taught by colored teachers. One of these was a slave woman who had taught a midnight school for a year. It was opened at eleven or twelve o'clock at night, and closed at two o'clock a.m .... Milla Cranson, the teacher, learned to read and write from the children of her indulgent master in her old Kentucky home. Her number of scholars was twelve at a time and when she had taught these to read and write she dismissed them, and again took her apostolic number and brought them up to the extent of her ability, until she had graduated hundreds. A number of them wrote their own passes and started for Canada .... At length her night-school project leaked out, and was for a time suspended; but it was not known that seven of the twelve years subsequent to leaving Kentucky had been spent in this work. Much excitement over her night-school was produced. The subject was discussed in their legislature, and a bill was passed, that it should not be held illegal for a slave to teach a slave .... She not only [ re ]opened her night-school, but a Sabbath-school. ... Milla Cranson used as good language as any of the white people.
September 10, 2025 at 4:47 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
How has the concept of race changed over time? What pressures does it continue to exert on our lives? How does it intersect with other registers of identity like class, gender, sexuality, and disability? THINKING THROUGH RACE GINETTA CANDELARIO FLOYD CHEUNG ROB DORIT LORETTA ROSS AND ITS INTERSECTIONS IDP102 FALL 2025 WEDNESDAYS, 7:00-8:15 P.M., WEINSTEIN AUDITORIUM Students may earn one credit. Staff and faculty may audit. CRYSTAL FLEMING JEN MALKOWSKI JAVIER PUENTE ZÜMRAY KUTLU JUSTIN CAMMY This course offers an interdisciplinary examination of race in the United States and abroad. By bringing together faculty from a variety of disciplines, we hope to convey an understanding of how and why race matters.
September 10, 2025 at 2:39 AM
alwaystheself.bsky.social
Couldn’t help myself.. also, there’s a cat in this photo #usopen 🎾😻
Me holding a honey deuce cocktail. Blurry cat in the background
September 7, 2025 at 9:30 PM